Best economic post: Mark Thoma responds to Ari Fleischer’s silly argument that we should be feeling sorry for ultra-wealthy people who are “bearing so much of the tax burden.” Comes complete with handy chart.

Best chart of the day: Perrspectives chart of Republican presidential candidates’ tax proposals for the top 1% of American income earners. Ignore the typo, and note that Gingrich’s plan would essentially have private equity managers paying Zero.

Best attempt to explain in inexplicable: NYT’s Nate Silver (538) takes on the challenge of describing the Republican caucus results in Iowa.